Civil service reform.
The civil service is a name applied to the duties rendered to the government other than naval and military service.
That is, all persons employed by the government outside of the army and navy are in the civil service.
By civil service reform is meant the doing away with many objectionable customs and abuses that had found their way, through the influence of politicians, into the civil service.
Away back in
President Jackson's time the custom was introduced of making appointments to this service a reward for party effort, and not in consequence of any particular fitness for the positions.
The change of the political character of an administration would, of course, under this plan, cause an entire change in the civil service, no faithful performance of tasks assigned or acquired experience counting as of any value in competition with party service.
It can readily be seen how a system like this would demoralize most branches of the public service, how patronage, or the control of offices, would come to be a mere matter of traffic, and how it would lead to a condition of wastefulness and inefficiency in many instances.
The matter was made even worse by a system of levying a tax or assessment, at each election, on all office-holders to bear party expenses, the understanding being that the payment of this tax was a condition of the retention of the office.
The first attempt to call the attention of Congress to the need of reform in the civil service was made in 1867.
On Feb. 2 of that year,
Mr. Jenckes, of
Rhode Island, a Republican, brought forward a bill for the investigation and reorganization of that service.
The bill was referred to a committee, but the report of the committee when received was tabled, and nothing further was done about it. In 1870
Mr. Jenckes tried to get a bill passed for the introduction of a system of competitive examination in the civil service, but this also failed.
President Grant gave it the weight of his influence, and really made legislation in that regard possible.
In his message to Congress, Dec. 5, 1870, the
President thus referred to the measure: “Always favoring practical reform.
I respectfully call your attention to one abuse of long standing which I would like to see remedied by this Congress.
It is a reform in the civil service of the country.
I would have it go beyond the mere fixing of the tenure of office of clerks and employes who do not require the advice and consent of the Senate to make their appointments complete.
I would have it govern, not the tenure, but the manner of making all appointments.
There is no duty which so much embarrasses the executive and heads of departments as that of appointments; nor is there any such arduous and thankless labor for
Senators and Representatives as that of finding places for constituents.
The present system does not secure the best men, and often not even fit men, for public place.
The elevation and purification of the civil service of the government will be hailed with approval by the whole people of the
United States.”
Following this was a bill called the civil service bill, which carried out the spirit of
President Grant's recommendation.
The first civil service commission consisted of
G. W. Curtis, of New York:
Joseph Medill, of
Chicago;
A. J. Cattell, of
New Jersey;
D. A. Walker, of
Pennsylvania;
S. B. Elliott, and
J. H. Blackfair.
A second commission was appointed March 1, 1883, consisting of
Dorman B. Eaton, of New York;
Leroy D. Thoman, of
Ohio; and
Dr. John B. Gregory, of
Illinois.
In 1900 the commission consisted of
John R. Procter,
John B. Harlow, and
Mark S. Brewer.
At the end of 1898 the number of persons in the classified civil service of the national government was estimated at 83,817.
See address on the “Spoils system,” under
Curtis,
George William.
